Giants of Jazz
Art Posters and Lithographs by Waldemar Świerzy from the Daguillard Collection
533 Royal Street
Giants of Jazz: Art Posters and Lithographs by Waldemar Świerzy from the Daguillard Collection pays homage to African American titans of jazz and rhythm-and-blues, the 20th-century tradition of Polish poster art and the interplay of musical and visual art.
The display includes 17 larger-than-life works by Polish artist Waldemar Świerzy (1931–2013). Visitors will see renditions of King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Ray Charles as well as three studies for a portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a self-portrait by Świerzy and a poster for the 1988 Jazz Jamboree Festival in Warsaw, Poland.
HNOC acquired the posters, along with several other works by Świerzy, as part of a much larger and diverse acquisition from the prominent immunologist and collector Fritz Daguillard and his wife, Rita Daguillard.
Related Stories
From the 19th Century to the Nine-Nine
How Juvenile and Gottschalk brought New Orleans music to the world, 150 years apart.
’Tis the Season . . . for Louisiana Holiday Music
From jazz to bounce, funk to klezmer, these songs add local flavor to the holidays.
Related Collection Highlights
Les lys et les roses
A bound volume of eight pieces for piano and voice sheds light on the role of women in New Orleans’s 19th-century music scene.
Uganda Roberts Tape Collection
The New Orleans percussionist's audio and video tape collection documents his decades-long career, his musical influences, landmark events in the city, and his family and daily life.
William Russell Jazz Collection
HNOC’s largest collection related to New Orleans jazz was the life’s work of this prolific collector, producer, historian, and photographer.
Related Virtual Exhibitions
Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Boswell Sisters of New Orleans
Explore the musical legacy of New Orleans’s own Boswell Sisters, who where among the first stars of radio’s golden age.
New Orleans Medley: Sounds of the City
The music of New Orleans is the living product of dynamic cultural interactions played out over centuries in this diverse southern port city.
Related Books
French Baroque Music of New Orleans
edited by Alfred E. Lemmon
with essays in English by Jennifer Gipson, Andrew Justice, Alfred E. Lemmon, and Mark McKnight, and in French by Jean Duron
Ernie K-Doe: The R&B Emperor of New Orleans
by Ben Sandmel
with a foreword by Peter Guralnick
Subscribe to Our Newsletter